<p>Hey everyone, here’s a thread to ask questions of those of us who are current students! A similar thread (from '05) is here. <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/brown-university/77182-brown-student-taking-questions.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/brown-university/77182-brown-student-taking-questions.html</a></p>
<p>Here’s a list of students who are willing to answer questions here or by PM:
-Bruno14 (PLME, bio/music concentrator, class of '14)</p>
<p>From your experience meeting other students, would you say “everyone” had a 4.0+ and perfect SAT score in hs? Or is there a mix of super smart students and smart students with interesting resumes and ec’s?</p>
<p>Here’s a list of students who are willing to answer questions here or by PM:
-Bruno14 (PLME, bio/music concentrator, class of '14)
-Uroogla (Classics [Greek and Latin] and Mathematics-Computer Science concentrator, class of '12)</p>
<p>
Few Brown students have perfect SATs or perfect GPAs, but most students are very strong in both of these areas. Some students were definitely admitted purely for academics, but many had exceedingly strong extracurriculars and/or life stories. I certainly did not have a 4.0+ GPA (Keep in mind that GPA is meaningless without context - at many schools, it’s impossible to get above a 4.0 GPA).</p>
<p>What is the lowest stats you know someone has?
How is life like at Brown? Studying? Parties? etc…</p>
<p>Lowest stats: I have absolutely no clue. Those kind of things (GPA, SATs, etc) really don’t get discussed at all after high school. I would look in the accepted students threads where they post stats to find out. I’ve seen SATs down to 1700 or 1800, I think.</p>
<p>How is life? As at all colleges, it really depends on who you are as a person and what you prefer to do. I’m pretty studious and tend to be more of an introvert, but I still definitely get out to parties. I try to save Friday and Saturday nights as my times to go out, and opt to stay in the rest of the week, but some people go out much more than I do. Some students choose to live in sub-free housing. I would say that I spend much more time hanging out with small groups of friends than I do going to big parties, but that’s just my thing.</p>
<p>Lowest stats: I have absolutely no clue. Those kind of things (GPA, SATs, etc) really don’t get discussed at all after high school. I would look in the accepted students threads where they post stats to find out. I’ve seen SATs down to 1700 or 1800, I think.</p>
<p>How is life? As at all colleges, it really depends on who you are as a person and what you prefer to do. I’m pretty studious and tend to be more of an introvert, but I still definitely get out to parties. I try to save Friday and Saturday nights as my times to go out, and opt to stay in the rest of the week, but some people go out much more than I do. Some students choose to live in sub-free housing. I would say that I spend much more time hanging out with small groups of friends than I do going to big parties, but that’s just my thing.</p>
<p>To successfully run this thread you should avoid any chancing in here. There’s an entire separate forum on CC for chancing and this should be all about questions about Brown not questions about students.</p>
<p>
Brown is very laid back, so most people don’t really talk about stats. My friends tend to have better SAT scores than mine (and mine were quite respectable), but we don’t talk about grades. These figures ([Brown</a> Admission: Facts & Figures](<a href=“Undergraduate Admission | Brown University”>Undergraduate Admission | Brown University)) show that most students were in the top 10% of their class (or didn’t attend a school that ranks, but it seems likely they’d be in the same general vicinity at their school), but that not everyone was, and that most students have at least an 1800 on the SATs and pretty much everyone has more. The lower scores likely had hooks, but I can’t say for sure because Brown students tend not to talk about things like that.</p>
<p>
I’m likely going to give a very different answer than most others on their board will; each of us have very different experiences.</p>
<p>To describe life at Brown in general, or even with carefully chosen anecdotes, would be difficult and ultimately extremely time consuming. I seem to recall that someone asked a similar question at midterms and got no responses because it’s such a hard question to answer, even during break. For that reason, I’ll talk about the two more specific categories you mentioned.</p>
<p>Studying is obviously a big part of life at Brown, but different people treat it very differently. Those who spend more time socializing/sleeping/pursuing a variety of ECs will have less time to study than others, and one’s courseload plays a huge role in how much one studies. Naturally, there are some people who are lax about courses/slack off/are naturals at their fields, and those people will spend less time studying than others. On the other end of the spectrum are people who do nothing but work. I’ve had semesters where I’ve been on that end of the spectrum. Some people block out distractions better than others while studying; part of the reason I spend so much time doing so is because I have trouble focusing on something for more than 45 minutes at a time without taking a short break, which may become a much longer break. Some people study in their rooms, while others prefer the Rock or Sci Li. My understanding is that each of the libraries has a quiet area, and I know both have rooms for group study. It’s very uncommon for me to study there, but I know quite a few students who will go there when they need to study for long periods of time with few distractions. Other people study at the dining halls. I wouldn’t call group study sessions the norm, but I’ve taken part in a few (before exams only). The likelihood of a group study session seems to be proportional to the number of friends you have in a class and the extent to which everyone is concerned about an upcoming exam - I had at least one before every Latin and Greek exam this year, but my Classics friends are fairly intense. Most work involves reading or problem sets that are required for the course. In more memorization-heavy courses like Neuro or Orgo, I’ve noticed that students tend to spend a lot of time doing extra reading/problems on their own in preparation for exams. There are courses whose exams you can approach like high school’s (cram the night before), but for the most part, studying needs to be done more maturely (disclaimer: I got my first A on a paper this past term, and I started it 18 hours before it was due…but I would have liked to have started sooner if it were possible).</p>
<p>Partying isn’t a part of Brown life I know much about. I have never once been to an official Brown party; it’s not my idea of fun at all. Some parties are apparently alcohol free, while others are not (particularly the frat/sorority parties). I don’t drink and prefer to be away from people who have had too much alcohol/people who are in the process of smoking, so I live on the substance free floor. The substance hall free is nice because, after freshman year, everyone on it wants to be there. Freshman year, some students end up on it because parents filled out their forms, so they end up upset with their placement and ignore the rules. Some people who live on it freshman year find friends who may or may not partake in substances, and they tend to not go on the sub free floor in following years. After three years on the sub free floor, I’ve finally entered the last category. FishCo is a club(?) that is/was open on Wednesdays. I’ve heard that it’s been closed, though I don’t know for how long/if it’s permanent. It’s a place that many students go, especially around Halloween, admittedly with fake IDs. There are quite a few parties Friday and Saturday nights, too, held by the frats, houses like Spanish House, and even West House, which held a pun-party this past fall. Some people go clubbing in Providence from occasionally to regularly. There are also smaller parties. The only “parties” I’ve been to have been very small (5-10 people who all knew each other and no one else was aware of it) - a few of my friends and I held a Superbowl party last year in our common room, at which we had pizza, chips, dip, soda, and I made Brownies (which would be appropriate if anyone at Brown actually called us Brownies). This past fall, I cooked a full meal for 7 of my friends, and I’ve been to a small potluck. So if you’re not looking for the normal party scene, social events like that can still happen, while there are medium-sized parties for those looking for something more typical.</p>
<p>I’ve really touched on only a couple parts of life at Brown, and I’ll gladly talk about more-specific topics if you contact me here or by PM, but I hope that this is helpful.</p>
<p>They are, I think I would want to be on the substance free floor anyways (if I get in) drinking and smoking is a sin in my religion.</p>
<p>Throwing my name into the pot.</p>
<p>Here’s a list of students who are willing to answer questions here or by PM:
-Bruno14 (PLME, bio/music concentrator, class of '14)
-Uroogla (Classics [Greek and Latin] and Mathematics-Computer Science concentrator, class of '12)
-aleph0 ('12, Applied Math-Bio, Philosophy)</p>
<p>How big is Greek life at Brown? I’m mostly asking this because I’m watching Greek right now :)</p>
<p>Couple questions:
<p>
Relatively speaking, it’s small. Only about 8% of Brown students are in a frat or sorority. I know that those who are in it love it (several of my classicist friends are). Their parties seem to be more heavily attended by Freshmen than by upper classmen. The sororities and frats are in the middle of campus right by the Ratty.</p>
<p>
All I know is that there’s a decent-sized Christian following, and there are a couple of masses a week. The Catholic group is joint with RISD, and they send out a weekly or biweekly newsletter; they seem to be involved in some service trips and retreats, but I haven’t attended any of them.</p>
<p>
Financial aid is somewhat difficult - it’s not as generous as HYP, certainly. Brown will meet 100% of what they calculate as your demonstrated need. I’ve heard that this can be less (even significantly less) than at other schools depending on your situation. Your sister’s college costs will be taken into account, as will things like home equity. An online aid calculator will give you an idea; you can’t assume you’ll get that much aid, but it’ll give you a sense of whether or not the difference between what your family will pay and what Brown says you can pay will be sizable.</p>
<p>From bauman1535:
@Bruno14 - how is the biology major? Would you recommend it so far? I’m majoring in Medical Microbiology and Immunology at Madison right now, and I’m debating between Biology and Human Biology at Brown.</p>
<p>I’ve only just finished my first semester, so I can’t say too much about the biology concentration/program as a whole, since I’ve only taken one class in it so far. I would look at the required courses for each concentration and rank them by which looks more interesting to you, but it’s probably pretty easy to switch as a transfer. Sorry I can’t say more on this!</p>
<p>In general, comparing by degree type (AB vs AB, ScB vs ScB), Biology has more stringent requirements as compared to Human Bio. Comparing the ScB, Biology requires second semester orgo and the year-long physics sequence, neither of which is required for the Human Bio ScB.</p>
<p>Also, Human Bio is more interdisciplinary than its name lets on. It really is not “Biology of the Human Body” or anything like that. Depending on the track, you may end up with a bunch social science classes in the concentration. There is (possibly unwarranted?) derision at Human Bio for being an easier way to get a “Biology” degree. One thing I’d say is that Human Bio is rather popular amongst pre-meds, whom I guess have to complete the orgo and physics requirements anyway. </p>
<p>If you are intended to go into research/grad school in Biology, then I’d say most definitely do Biology instead of Human Bio.</p>
<p>Thanks for the insight on Bio/Human Bio! I read about the Human Bio major last week and it seemed interesting, but it’s good to get an opinion on it from someone. I’m pre-med anyway, so I’m not positive whether I’ll go Bio or HumBio.</p>
<p>I’d be happy to answer questions as well.</p>
<p>Here’s a list of students who are willing to answer questions here or by PM:
-Bruno14 (PLME, bio/music concentrator, class of '14)
-Uroogla (Classics [Greek and Latin] and Mathematics-Computer Science concentrator, class of '12)
-aleph0 ('12, Applied Math-Bio, Philosophy)
-burningham17 ('14, Biochem?, probably premed or research)</p>
<p>I applied to Brown RD this year and selected Human Biology as my first choice. I’ve read everything on the website about this program, but if anyone is actually in it right now, any additional information/thoughts/opinions would be much appreciated! </p>
<p>Also, what is pre-med life like at Brown?</p>
<p>Here’s a list of students who are willing to answer questions here or by PM:
-Bruno14 (PLME, bio/music concentrator, class of '14)
-Uroogla (Classics [Greek and Latin] and Mathematics-Computer Science concentrator, class of '12)
-aleph0 ('12, Applied Math-Bio, Philosophy)
-burningham17 ('14, Biochem?, probably premed or research)
-Keynes ('14, Computer Science-Economics)</p>
<p>… so any one of you want to help me with my question? It’s right up there ^^</p>